


All I want for Christmas is No more Robots

by GravitasErrant



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas Story, F/M, Gen, Mutual Pining, hints of Framework!Fitz, holiday au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21731998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GravitasErrant/pseuds/GravitasErrant
Summary: SHIELD, Inc. is holding its annual Holiday party. Only one problem, Leopold Fitz has been chosen to run it and naturally, he has accidentally trapped their hired elves into the Framework. Read while he solves this crisis (or rather relies on Simmons to) as his friends keep his ex Ophelia away and the two finally untangle what they mean to each other. As well as settle the enormous betting pool that the SHIELD office has on their favorite scientists/oblivious nerds
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Kudos: 15





	All I want for Christmas is No more Robots

**Author's Note:**

> I'm normally a grump at Christmas so I wrote this as a vaccine while I'm still in the Christmas mood. I rarely ever get to flex my more positive rom-com muscles so please enjoy!

In a museum of modern history and pop cultural art, Leopold Fitz found himself in a situation with no real solution. He looked at the curtain separating the rest of SHIELD Inc from the Secret Santa gift room.

Why did he agree to run the holiday party this year?

“I’m not doing it.”

“You have to.”

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to the genius engineer as his mother and colleagues could attest. There were many cases where his curiosity and genius led to disaster and opportunity, such as the time he accidentally rigged a microwave to create a wireless Faraday cage and ruined the 1998 Man U v. Liverpool game for half of Glasgow to the time he created a revolutionary new jet fuel with Jemma Simmons and caused their entire dormitory to evacuate, making hundreds miss the Man U v. Liverpool game of 2011.

These incidents typically drew the interest of government and research groups in addition to the ire of dedicated football fans. Many were one and the same people. As a result, Fitz still had to fake an American accent and grow his beard longer or shave entirely before any local pub visit.

“Why?”

“It’s your fault, mate.”

Needless to say, Fitz knew his fair share of infamy, which was why he felt no shame or reluctance to ignore his friend/coworker Hunter.

“How!?” Fitz yelped. “It’s not my fault that the elves and Santa found my prototypes.”

“It is your fault because they’re _your_ prototypes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Fitz said in a strangled whisper.

“Relax, it’s a compliment! Sometimes, your ideas work a little too well, which is great for SHIELD business most of the time. Like 90 percent.”

Behind the two, a man in a Santa costume and electronic headband groaned distractingly. They turned to look as Santa sluggishly rolled on top of his fake rotund stomach and balanced carefully as he did a frog leap swim through the air. “Wait for me, Kermit.”

Hunter scratched the back of his head. “This just happens to be the other 10 percent.”

“I won’t leave you behind like Miss Piggy did!”

Fitz glared accusingly at Hunter. He knew Hunter didn’t have the technical skills to plan a prank like this, but he needed to blame someone other than himself. It was only his right as a newly minted American. “I did not program the Framework to have a Muppets simulation.”

Slumped against Santa’s chair, two elves cuddled and seemed to pick at each other’s suede coats. “Ooh, ooh. Ah.”

“Aha-ah.” One of the elves sighed contentedly.

“Or…monkeys?”

“No comment,” Fitz mumbled.

“Why did you even make this project to begin with? SHIELD’s not a gaming company.”

“It was designed to assist with therapy for soldiers handling PTSD. Help them acclimate to non-violent, domestic environments. This isn’t even my original design. It’s not meant to be this immersive.”

Hunter leaned forward and tried snapping his fingers in the elves’ ears who remained blissfully in monkey paradise. “What was the redesign for then?”

“Last I heard, someone was trying to get it sold for military training into foreign territories.” Fitz averted his gaze.

Hunter didn’t fail to notice. “Someone?”

Just then, Mack from automobile development walked past the curtain and into the room.

“Guys, what’s the—” Mack stopped and stared at Santa who was currently stroking at an imaginary banjo. At least, Mack hoped that was a banjo. He exchanged glances with Hunter.

“Fitz?”

“Yeah.” Hunter nodded.

“Oh come on! I’m not some mad scientist!” Fitz said indignantly. Even Mack was teaming up on him. “I left the headbands here for a moment to go to the loo. It’s not my fault that they chose to try them on! I was returning them to…”

“The robot.” Mack finished.

“Ophelia is not a robot.”

“He’s right. She’s not a robot.”

“Thank you, Hunter!” Fitz said. For once, someone was siding with him.

“Robots can’t be possessed by demons. She’s clearly a cyborg.”

Fitz groaned. “She’s not a demon or a cyborg. Ophelia’s just…driven.”

Mack rose an eyebrow. “She’s obsessed with you.”

“She’s not obsessed with me!” Fitz said lamely.

“You broke up with her three weeks ago and I see you even less than before.”

“I have a lot of budget meetings for all of your projects.”

“With her. And only her.” Hunter pointed out.

“I’m the head of engineering! It’s expected that I defend my team’s projects to her. That’s not obsession. She’s just thorough. She has to prove herself to the board.” However, his eyes kept anxiously darting to the curtain as though she could hear. “We only dated for a bit. It just wasn’t a good fit for me. She’s too…uh, perfect…?”

Hunter smirked knowingly as Fitz tried to politely avoid insulting his ex. “Not enough freckles?”

“Whatever, Turbo. Can you get those off them or not?”

“I don’t know what changes were made but those synapse relays are new. I’m not sure I can pull them out without some damage or without them still believing that they’re in a simulation.”

“That happen before?” Mack asked.

Fitz shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Well, there’s a reason why Coulson and May can’t be in the same break room for too long now.”

Too wrapped up in his own shame, Fitz failed to notice Mack’s groan or Hunter’s shit-eating grin as the mechanic stealthily passed a hundred dollars to Hunter.

“The room is supposed to open in half an hour for the Secret Santa. Can we get a replacement?”

“Fitz, like I said. You have to suit up. It’s on you that we’re even in this.”

“With what?” Fitz exclaimed. Throwing his arms in the air, Fitz wildly gesticulated to the pile of gifts and decorations as though it could summon a new Santa costume. “You’re welcome to unzip Kermit Santa over there if you’re so eager! Go on!”

Hunter winced. “Right, you got a point.”

“Turbo, why did you even volunteer to run the office party? Doesn’t Simmons usually do it? You hate these things.”

“Um, she was but left when she thought Ophelia was doing it with me. Didn’t want to step on her toes since Ophelia became the new VP, I guess,” Fitz said before clearing his throat. He faintly remembered the unsettling Stepford wife smile on Jemma’s face as she encouraged him to take the role. “Then I got stuck with it because we were supposed to do it as a couple’s activity, then of course, I, um, ended things before then.”

“Proudest I’ve ever been of you, mate. She’s been cheaping out on us for ages now. It was when she capped us at 2 drink tickets. That was the final straw, right?”

“I hate to agree with our resident alcoholic, but she’s been slashing budgets left and right for her own projects or ones her uncle Radcliffe has as one of our contractors. It’s been really draining morale and built some deep team resentment against you.”

“Me?” Fitz said, shocked.

“Turbo, I know that you’re not great at saying no to the women in your life but…you really should’ve said no to some things around the office, especially while you were dating her.”

Fitz blinked, utterly non-plussed. “What does that mean?”

“Well, when you first started dating her, everyone was a little relieved since you’ve always had our backs and she was a completely new VP to look over us. Folks figured that you were trying to grease the wheels. Myself, I was just happy you finally moved on a bit after you found out about Simmons and—” Hunter caught a look from Mack and changed tack. “Anyways, we thought she’d go a bit easy on us because of you.”

“Wha—she was easy with us.”

Hunter shrugged. “Yeah, at first. She was okaying every new equipment request or vacation time whenever you backed it up, but you know…you started to wear those bloody suits all the time and nodding to every new deadline she set up or layoff or budget cut. We were watching you become the little Smithers to her Mr. Burns.”

Fitz winced and looked away in shame. “Yeah, I know I was a wanker. Why do you think I keep agreeing to those bloody meetings? I need to make up for it before I become a wanker for life to SHIELD. I barely have time to sleep, let alone give personal apologies to everyone. Not that anyone’s noticed.”

“Simmons definitely noticed.” Mack commented lightly, carefully gauging Fitz’s reaction.

Fitz grunted and rolled his eyes. “Did she? She moved to the new building to work on that bloody Maveth project months ago. I don’t think she knew anything about what we were doing after Daniels showed up.”

Though he doubted that Fitz would believe him, Mack sighed and gently set him straight. “She was the only scientist who could finish the research in time. His job and his team’s careers depended on her pulling through when she did.”

“I know. I helped.” Fitz grumbled. It still hurt that she left their lab with barely any forewarning and then spent the following six months with tall, dark, and hog-faced. Though it always stung, Fitz grew used to losing Simmons’ attention when a fit and symmetrical man came around, but this was the first time that it happened to clash with their one pure focus in science.

Will Daniels had to come in as this wunderkind program manager. He needed Jemma’s help in finishing a biological computing system that would revolutionize city and railroad design all over. And of course, Jemma was a genius who worked on the exact thing for fun during their time in Oxford. Fitz knew that there was no point in resenting the fact Jemma was too brilliant and incandescent for anyone else to not recognize and want. She would happily help even if it wasn’t her field.

He wouldn’t change that about her for the world. It was part of what made Jemma Simmons the most beautiful woman he had ever met. The fact she had a thousand-watt smile and a gorgeous face was only the most minute ember compared to the brightness of her spirit and passion. Fitz shook his head slightly. He had no right to think of her like that. The best they were these days were text-buddies. What she had with Will was…

“I—I’m going to need Ophelia’s help on this.” Fitz muttered. He wasn’t technically lying but he knew deep down that was just an out to ignore his last thought.

“You can’t be serious.”

Mack stroked his beard thoughtfully and looked out the curtain. “Maybe not the best idea if you’re not ready to see her again but we can find another scientist. We are in a museum literally packed with them, not even counting the wax ones.”

“She was Radcliffe’s lead neuro-scientist before joining SHIELD,” Fitz said glumly.

“I can get her but only if you’re okay with it, Turbo.”

“Yeah, she’s been on the warpath ever since you stopped inserting your floppy in her love drive. Anyone even remotely rumored to be near you…”

“My floppy in—her—her” Fitz stuttered indignantly. “She’s not a—our relationship wasn’t exactly just…She’s the only other one who worked on the Framework.”

“So? You were the main designer. It’ll just take you a bit longer without her. Plus, do you really want to speak to her again? You remember what she did to Ivanov the day after you broke up with her, right?”

Fitz remembered vividly and shuddered. Ivanov was a tall, shaggy Russian man who looked like he could crush a bowling ball with his bare hands. After Fitz, he was the only other person to avoid Ophelia’s dark side. However, ten minutes after meeting a post-break up Ophelia in a regular metrics meeting, the man had tears in his eyes and bear hugged Fitz, desperately begging him to get back together with the rob—Ophelia.

Fitz reminded himself that her name was Ophelia. Not Mack’s (and what seemed to be their entire department’s) favorite nickname for her.

“Turbo, there are literally scienti—”

“…Maybe I can work this out on my own.”

“There we go.”

Like men, the two stubbornly agreed to fix a problem they barely understood by themselves. Despite the presence of readily available help.

Only Mack frowned dubiously. “Right, you guys work on that...”

Outside the Secret Santa gift room, Jemma Simmons and Daisy Johnson had taken to wandering around the different exhibitions that were not yet readily released to the public.

“Man, I can see why you and Fitz always visit. This place is awesome without the huge crowds on the weekends.” Daisy said before taking another sip of her martini. The resident white hat hacker winced. She asked for shaken not stirred.

Jemma hummed in agreement. “I haven’t been here in a while though. Let alone without Fitz.”

“Fitz is still here. He’s just busy setting all this up. Oh, look at this exhibit. Doctor Who, right?”

Jemma lightly hummed again, hoping that Daisy wouldn’t notice her surreptitious glances around for a hint of curly hair or blue eyes. Ever since she moved back to the Playground building, it seemed as though she never saw Fitz with same frequency as she did before she left, and he always seemed to have an excuse to cancel plans.

“You know, it’s pretty weird that all his companions are super hot. I mean he’s an alien. His recruitment policy has gotta be better than a CW show.”

As Jemma pretended to listen to Daisy’s commentary, she reflected on this chasm between her and Fitz a little deeper. It wasn’t just the lower frequency. It was just utterly different talking to him since she moved back, which didn’t make sense since they’d still been texting, and he’d been constantly emailing her notes on the Maveth research.

“—aliens always sound British because the TARDIS is translating to the Doctor. That makes sense, but when they go to America or Italy, it still has to translate to the Doctor since English isn’t his native language…so why do they still sound American or Italian if the default accent is clearly British?”

She wouldn’t have finished the project in the time she did without his help. Will kept his job and was able to get the references needed to take that new one at NASA. And yet…it was like walking back into the lab at Oxford when they’d just met at 16. Only professional and matter of fact.

Less than that really. Were they just growing apart? Maybe they just weren’t used to the new paradigm now that they weren’t just in their innocent bubble at Uni and finding who they were in the grownup corporate world. When she came back, gone were his wonderfully warm cardigans and even warmer smile. Instead it was replaced with a stern frown and bespoke expensive suits. Oh, and that haircut! Who told him to get rid of his curls?

“And if the new Doctor is a woman, will they give a male love interest now? Keep it heteronormative to ease it in and confirm the character is pansexual like Harkness or—"

It just wasn’t Fitz. Not the Fitz she knew and lo—

“You know maybe, it’s too soon after River Song.”

Jemma nervously chewed her bottom lip. She’d heard he’d changed a little when she left but didn’t expect this much change. Until she saw him, for lack for a better word, swagger into the lab with their new VP Ophelia, Jemma didn’t think Fitz even knew what a full Windsor knot was!

“Right, Jemma?”

“Hm?”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “You weren’t listening.”

“Um, no, no I was.”

“Uh-huh.” Daisy said. She finished the last of her martini. “Fine, let’s fail the Bechdel test for now, but I want to get back into seeing why you and Fitz love this campy-ass show. Talk to me about what’s going on between you and Fitz.”

“What? It’s a cultural classic that celebrates diversity and moral ideals! It doesn’t matter if you’re a child or a—”

“Yeah, yeah. Save it for later after you and Fitz get your shit together.” Daisy dismissively waved her hand before quietly muttering. “And I collect the betting pool tomorrow morning.”

Jemma was baffled. “What did you say? Fitz and I are fine.”

Daisy only cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“We still talk!”

She twirled her empty glass between her fingers expectantly. “Mhm.”

“Text really.” Jemma bit her lip. “But that still counts!”

Daisy only examined her manicured nails and straightened the stylish gauntlets connected to her holiday dress.

“I mean sure. A lot of it is about work and I was working with and dating Will for a bit, so I didn’t have time to really get into the same depth of discussion as we usually do during tea or lunch.”

“Right.”

“And we might not be getting tea or lunch as much as we did before Maveth…” Jemma trailed off.

Daisy had a small smirk slowly creep on her face.

“Or at all these days…but he was busy! He was dating… _her_. He’ll be sure to remember to restart our tradition after he finds my Secret Santa gift for him.” Jemma tried to shrug nonchalantly.

“Mm, okay. And but what about recently…? He broke up with her weeks ago. He has more time to hang with his bestie and talk about all the Brit nerd shit that I am desperately trying to pick up the slack on here, right?”

Daisy never broke eye contact with Jemma until her favorite British scientist’s smile cracked.

“Ugh! You’d think so!!” Jemma groaned as her arms slumped, nearly spilling her gin out of the glass.

“There we go,” Daisy said smugly.

“I know she was his second or third actual girlfriend.” Jemma was still unsure what he did with Sally Webber while they were engineering lab partners. “But it’s not like she broke his heart or anything. He should get back to normal by now. Fitz hates change so I suppose it’s getting better. He stopped wearing those stupid suits.”

“Stupid? I mean Fitz isn’t exactly my type, but those suits were the main reason why half the lab put up with or even loved his Darth Fitzler phase. I think a few messed up some reports on purpose so they could be berated in his office.”

“What?”

“Let’s just say there’s a reason why some assistants felt no guilt in dropping their pens for him to pick up or asking for his help at their work _bench_ specifically.”

Jemma’s mouth dropped open. “What??”

“Oh, don’t act so scandalized. You look too.”

“I do no—”

“Not for too long because you always get too busy glaring daggers at anyone you catch looking.” Daisy amended.

“That is ridiculous.” Jemma huffed. “They’re being perverse, unprofessional and—”

“On the other hand, it is nice that you finally put the fear of God into that smug little bastard Seth. It was always a bit of a tossup with him. Donnie might thank you for the unwitting assist later though.”

Jemma blinked and struggled to find an appropriate reaction. “How do you know so much about everyone’s romantic interests?”

“SHIELD pays okay but it’s way more lucrative to dig into who’s hooking up or will hook up with who.” Daisy said lightly before muttering, “After tonight, I might take a look into Tahiti for a timeshare. I’ll have to share with Coulson though.”

“Anyways, I don’t understand why Fitz has been so distant now. He has the free time. I know his project load isn’t too big.” Jemma lamented.

“He needs you. You two are weirdly codependent but in a way that makes us all envy you. And shake you silly when you guys seem to squander that kind of bond.”

“Maybe before but now…I don’t know.”

Daisy thoughtfully tapped on her martini glass. It was a hail Mary but if she wanted to see her friends happy and earn that timeshare…

“Maybe things haven’t totally cooled off with the robot. I mean they broke up and he’s still running this party and the secret Santa. He could’ve just thrown it to his least favorite assistant. Maybe he’s got something planned.”

“Planned?”

“You know Fitz. He’s a giant romantic teddy bear at heart. No matter what haircut he has on.” Daisy muttered. “It wouldn’t be out of character for him to do something big and romantic if he decided that he made a mistake.”

Jemma scoffed. “He just recovered his soul from that woman. I don’t think he’d go back for seconds.”

“Hey guys, do you know where Ophelia is?”

Daisy and Jemma turned around to see Mack who seemed embarrassed to even be asking such a question. “No, why do you ask?”

“Fitz needs her.”

Without thinking, both Daisy and Jemma simultaneously slapped Mack in the arms. “No!”

“What kind of friend are you?”

“Not for that!” Holding his hands in the air, Mack had the decency to look sheepish. “Look, I’m not excited about it either. Don’t tell anyone but Fitz’s old Framework project got stuck to the elves and we can’t get them out of it. Ophelia’s the only other expert on it.”

Jemma blinked nonplussed. “No, she’s not. I helped Fitz design the first synapse relays.”

“Great, maybe you can help him. Fitzsimmons rides again.” Daisy didn’t even bother hiding her smirk.

Again? Jemma pursed her lips. It’s not like they stopped being a team. They just took a small hiatus from each other to work on themselves, outside of the context of their unbreakable bond. They were still Fitzsimmons. She missed Fitz terribly during her time in the Maveth project and her texts with him were a salve in the never-ending hell of that project.

However, to both her and Daisy’s surprise, Mack seemed hesitant. “That’s, uh, all right. I think he just needs a neuro-scientist. I can find someone else. Ophelia has to be here somewhere. I’ll check the Battlestar Galactica exhibit.”

Daisy nodded. “Smart.”

“It’s really no trouble. I only need a computer and a receptor within range—”

However, it was too late. Mack had already walked out. Jemma could swear she overheard him saying under his breath, “Not before New Year’s. Elena wants to go to Guatemala.”

What did that mean? She knew she wasn’t Mack’s favorite person, but this was unexpectedly rude of him to just ignore them. “Why’d he just leave like there was a bomb in the room?”

“No clue.” Daisy said innocently. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously at the door where Mack left though. Jemma could barely hear Daisy’s mutter about a timeshare.

Clearly, she knew something and was keeping it from Jemma for some reason. Whatever it was, Jemma would have to interrogate Daisy later.

“Hm, all these cameras are wireless. Their receptor should be in the security room. We might be able to convince a guard to let us use it for a bit. If nothing else, we can at least track down Fitz and see about helping him in person.”

“Or get Ophelia,” Daisy teased. “She could really help with the computati—”

“No!”

Daisy jumped, startled. Jemma took a breath and spoke more quietly. “I-I mean she must be busy since this is her first year at SHIELD. Fitz and I can handle this on our own. Just like before.”

Daisy smiled and eagerly nodded. “Okay, let’s go see security and finally reunite Fitzsimmons!”

She grabbed Jemma’s arm and dashed, dragging the British scientist behind her like a ragged doll. However, Jemma didn’t mind. This was a mission to save Fitz’s soul from Ophelia.

In the Secret Santa room, Hunter leaned against the wall as he watched Fitz tap at his tablet and fiddle with one of the elves’ headbands.

“So can you clear something up for me, mate?”

“Sure.”

“Me and Bobbi have been recently talking, arguing really…”

“Recently?” Fitz asked sarcastically. “Arguing is your two’s version of foreplay.”

“Cordially debating then,” Hunter corrected emphatically. “And we can’t really come to a conclusion.”

“What do you want to ask?” Fitz asked, annoyed.

“You don’t like Christmas, right?”

“Tradition. Christmas tradition. Whoever said keeping a flammable tree near an open chimney specifically for free presents was clearly a kleptomaniacal arsonist.”

“Right. And you don’t like parties much, do you?”

“Never got invited to as many as Simmons did to share her love of them.” Fitz mumbled. “Still kept dragging me along though.”

“And you hate taking on more office responsibility like party planning.” Hunter flatly stated.

“I was hired to be an engineer. Not the office cheerleader. What’s your point?”

“Why didn’t you let someone else run the party?”

Fitz stopped working on his tablet. He had to think for a second on what he could tell Hunter that was technically true. “If it wasn’t me, it would’ve had to be an assistant or Ophelia. I was already familiar with all the arrangements and Ophelia didn’t need the extra work.”

“It was her idea and she’s the VP. Heavy is the crown, mate.”

Fitz shook his head and continued to work.

“Then an assistant runs it. You always find them annoying.”

“Not enough to be the hook for organizing this. Ophelia approved a lot of money for this venue.”

Hunter looked disappointed. “Then Bobbi’s right. You’re really doing it for Ophelia. Fitz…are you trying to get back together with her?”

His tablet momentarily slipped in his fingers. Fitz gawped at Hunter, opening and closing his mouth. “What? No!”

“I dunno. I mean I thought Bobbi was crazy but why else would you even bother? You’re not that altruistic. Especially if it means you’ll have to deal with one of your biggest fears all night: small talk. Only reasons you’d ever put up with that either love or some deep-seated self-loathing. I can only think of one person that inspires both.”

Fitz grunted noncommittally. “It’s not her.”

“Then who is it?”

Tapping at his screen a little longer, Fitz avoided the question, but Hunter was unusually quiet. Sensing that there was no way to avoid it, Fitz said through a strained tone. “You know who.”

“Yeah, I do. So does everyone with eyes and a heart. Well, maybe just eyes. Our dear VP noticed, after all. The rest of us just want you two to bloody admit it to each other.” Hunter then muttered sotto voce. “Some bloody nest eggs and timeshares depend on it.”

“She has someone else.”

“No, that bloke is down in Florida. I don’t know who I feel worse for. Him or Florida.”

“If she dated him, he’s not that bad. He’s actually fantastic. Nothing to hate about him,” Fitz said with a note of resignation. “Pilot, top marks, hero-man. Exactly her type.”

“Still has a hog face.” Hunter pointed out. “Can’t cure that.”

Despite himself, Fitz couldn’t disagree. “Still has a hog face.”

“If he’s her type, then why didn’t she transfer over to the Florida office? Why stay here?”

Fitz didn’t have an answer, but he had his guesses. “Her research needs the staff and resources here. She may love charming attitudes and symmetrical features but not more than science. At least that didn’t change.”

Standing behind Fitz, Hunter gave out a long, frustrated groan. He then gestured choking Fitz’s neck as the engineer absentmindedly kept working on the Framework. Why did Fitz keep getting in his own way to love and happiness? More importantly, at this rate, Bobbi would be the one to win the office pool. He’d rather have Daisy finally win that timeshare than suffer through Bobbi’s sore winning.

To the security guard’s consternation, Daisy and Jemma were two of the most petite and relentless museum attendees that he’d ever met. Only Jemma had the grace to give thank him when he’d inevitably allowed them into the surveillance room.

“Simmons, look at this! God, you can really see and hear everything from this room. It’s like 1984 in here. I wonder what Coulson and May are doing in there.”

Jemma spotted a server rack with an array. “Oh, I see the receptor. I’ve got my tablet on me, so it shouldn’t take too long to get back into the Framework server and those synapse links. Where’s Fitz?”

Daisy typed at the security station. “Looks like he’s in the Secret Santa room with Hunter…and some cuddly elves.”

“Oh! Okay.” Jemma’s eyes widened as she stared at what the elves were doing. “Okay…”

“The Framework’s a simulation so what’s that simulating other than the Discovery channel…after dark?”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have told Fitz to model after bonobos instead of the capuchins like he wanted. How are Fitz and Hunter not looking at what those elves doing? Let alone whatever Santa is.”

“I think they’re having a manly heart to heart. They’re drinking and Hunter is still on his third beer from the looks of it.” Daisy began to search for the mic in their room. “Has to be a serious discussion.”

“What are you doing?”

“You’re not curious about what they’re talking about?”

“Well, yes” Jemma begrudgingly admitted. “But it doesn’t mean we should listen in on a priv—”

From the speakers, Fitz’s Scottish voice filled the air. “Look, Hunter. She’s not interested. Even before she left, she got distant from me. After Daniels showed up, fresh from the gym of course.”

Who got distant from him? Was it Ophelia? Jemma quickly changed her tune. “Turn up the volume.”

Fitz sighed. “Didn’t even say goodbye when she packed up her desk.”

“She was moving a neighborhood over. Not a country over.”

“She once threw a going away party for our RA…who was moving to the floor above us.”

“So? Didn’t stop her from texting you every day. All day. Didn’t matter whether it was day, night, holiday or Sundays. When she knows we’ll watch the Tottenham v Liverpool game because of the time difference.”

“Are you still pissed about that?”

“You swore that your football curse was over! The DVR was all recorded and we kept offline. Beers fresh from the fridge and nachos everywhere. And what did you do?”

Fitz massaged his temples. “Check my pho—"

“Check your phone!”

“I wanted to see if my mum had called when we went on blackout.”

“But she didn’t! Instead, your bloody other half texted the final score an hour befo—”

“She’s not my other half. We’re just old friends. She’s made that abundantly clear,” Fitz said under his breath.

Jemma’s mouth opened. Were they talking about her? And what did he mean by old friends? When did she get demoted from best?

“Just drop it.”

“If it’s Simmons you’re doing this for, then that doesn’t make sense. You’ve spent even more time away from her than ever.”

“It’s better for us this way.”

Daisy eyed Jemma and moved to turn off mic but Jemma quickly grabbed Daisy’s hand. “Simmons…we don’t need to hear this.”

“No. I think I do.” For the longest time, Jemma felt she was missing a piece of a puzzle that she didn’t even know was in front of her sliding into place. Fitz was her closest friend and greatest supporter. She’d had her doubts about joining the Maveth project but Fitz had encouraged her to keep going because it would get her connections to NASA and advance her career. He even patiently listened to her talk about her time with Will as she worked through her feelings about it and navigating the pitfalls of mixing career and personal life.

Despite all this, Fitz never seemed to let her return the favor. Jemma wasn’t pleased to hear that he was dating the ice queen of Engineering but if he was happy, then she’d gladly support him. Only the thing was she didn’t have a clue how he really felt about Ophelia or any of his dates while he knew everything about her and Will or any of her previous relationships. Maybe it was underhanded, but Jemma finally had a chance to see what Fitz had always kept to himself or his guy friends.

“Come out with it, mate. Why the hell are you staying away from Simmons? Do you hate her now or something?”

Jemma’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her tablet. Was that it? She wasn’t gone that long.

Fitz laughed. “She actually thought the same thing when we first met. That I hated her because I kept avoiding her. The truth was I got so nervous and wanted to come up with something perfect to say to impress her.”

Jemma smiled. She knew that now but every time he confirmed his past shyness, it was unfailingly adorable of him. Daisy seemed to think the same. “You have to show me those pics of you guys in Oxford again. Did he really keep his shirts untucked like that all the time?”

“So if it’s not hate, then…?”

Fitz gave a wan smile that Jemma only saw once in a while. Normally it was after a successful date or holiday she’d had with a boyfriend, when she’d excitedly recap it at lunch and Fitz would only smile like that, barely paying attention. She’d always thought it was just her best friend indulging her but now she had to think it was something else.

“If I can’t say it to her, then...” Fitz defeatedly shrugged. For some reason, Daisy looked at him with kind eyes and murmured. “Oh Fitz, you dork.”

Hunter nodded. “Ah, the other thing then.”

“Ugh, I can’t end the simulation from here. We might have to lock these three in a closet and deal with the insurance people later.” Fitz grumbled. “I’ll have to pass them out.”

In search of something productive to do, Jemma decided to focus on getting the elves out of the Framework. If she had to listen more to how Ophelia was not that bad, Jemma was ready to puke.

“I guess everyone will have to guess their secret Santa the old fashioned way.”

“I don’t.”

“You know your secret Santa?”

“Yeah, I opened it early. It was my favorite sandwich. No mistake on who it could be.”

Jemma’s head snapped up. He opened her gift early! Of course, he knew it was her.

“It was Ophelia.”

What?! Jemma seethed.

“That’s a pretty lame gift for a woman who literally bought a museum for a day.”

“It’s the same sandwich that she made me on our first unofficial date. Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a hint of pesto aioli. She said she spoke to Jemma and made it for me.”

“Is it that good?”

“Best sandwich I ever had.”

Despite herself, Jemma beamed as her smile threatened to strain her cheeks. That was until Fitz continued. “It was after we lost part of our team to the Maveth project. Ophelia left it at my desk and was about to leave before I came back. She’d made it for me when she noticed me getting more stressed over the whole shuffle.”

Jemma’s smile was swiftly replaced with a flat line. Her eyes narrowed. That was her sandwich. She wanted to surprise Fitz with lunch but couldn’t. He was stuck in a meeting with Radcliffe for so long that she left it there with a note promising a raincheck because she had to catch a flight with Will.

It then dawned on her. That would’ve been the last lunch they had together before their separation. Instead, that bitch took credit for it and parlayed it into a date with Fitz!

“I thought you said you weren’t doing this party for Ophelia but really for—”

Fitz interrupted to Jemma’s annoyance. If Fitz wasn’t doing it to get back with Ophelia, then who was he doing it for? “No, no, I’m not but that sandwich did remind me that…she was there for me. And that she knew me better than any woman really has in such a short time other than Simmons. That sandwich gives me…hope, I guess.”

“I thought you said you weren’t thinking about getting back together with Ophelia.”

Yes! Jemma thought. Why on Earth was he nostalgic about that horrid woman? She made him worse and so anti-Fitz that it risked his relationships with everyone at SHIELD, but here he was reminiscing about it like it was the good old times.

“Well, I am.”

Despite not being in the room, both Daisy and Jemma yelled at the same time as Hunter. “Are you crazy!?”

“Not like that.” Fitz paused. “Mostly not like that. She offered me an opportunity to work on a project of hers in coordination with HYDRA.”

“What?!”

“I know, I know. They’re evil but it’ll be a purely non-military project into transhumanistic limbs like the ones I made for Coulson except for paraplegics.”

“As non-military as the Framework was going to be?” Hunter asked.

In that moment, Jemma was eternally grateful that at least one person was present to talk sense into Fitz, even if it was Hunter.

“I can rein her in. We don’t need those DARPA funds and I can make a case to the board if she tries to convince them. But I think that Project Looking Glass might be able to provide new lives to people who had their bodies taken away through no fault of their own. Maybe even better than their old ones. We’d have to work out of the South Korea office for a while but…that might be for the best.”

“Wha—why?”

Jemma leaned closer to the screen next to Daisy, who reluctantly gave her space to listen. Deep down, Jemma knew what he was about to say and knew on a deeper level her counterargument against it, even if she didn’t have all the words or opportunity ready to say it.

“I saw how she looked at Daniels when she got back. And when he left.”

Jemma swallowed hard, her breathing and heartbeat seemed to roar in her ears. There it was. Ever since Will left, she’d wondered about this look in Fitz’s eyes. They’d just held Will’s farewell party and she’d just kissed him goodbye but for some reason, Fitz didn’t seem happy or sad. He just seemed defeated.

“…and seeing the way her eyes just smile, every time she pulls up that bloody picture. It wasn’t just…her liking how he looked. It was longing. It was this wistfulness that I’ve never seen her have for me.”

“And how do you know what ‘longing’ looks like? It’s a pretty touchy feely thing to put to a look. I’ve never seen something like that.”

Fitz snorted. “It’s because you’ve never looked in the mirror when Bobbi leaves for another conference overseas.”

Hunter was silent for a moment with an inscrutable look. Jemma glanced at Daisy and was surprised to see the same expression mirrored on her friend’s. “So you’re going to go because you want to forget her.”

It was like her heart stopped. Too terrified to take another beat before hearing his answer.

“Not want to. Have to. She’ll find her way back to him again. She’s too brilliant to just be stuck in this part of SHIELD. I can learn to accept that. And Ophelia does seem to understand me and maybe I can find something with her. Teach her a little restraint. Turn the robot into a real girl.”

“That robot only knows how to stroke your ego and keep control over her possessions. It’s why she’s so good with the board. That’s why when she inevitably goes for mass layoffs for a bottom line, they won’t give care because their most important assets will still be here. You. I can’t bloody believe you’re basing your hope in her humanity on a sandwich.”

“I’m not. I just think I need some more space.”

“Do you really think Simmons would never—”

“No. Not never.”

Not fully realizing why, Jemma exhaled sharply, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“But not without it being just…a consolation. I’m not what she wants.”

Biting her bottom lip hard, Jemma frantically started finding the Framework server, connecting to the synapse headbands, and disconnected them from the elves. Daisy turned off the mics to the Secret Santa room and watched her friend closely.

“Um, I’ll text Hunter that Mack found us and we did it for them. Give Fitz a little peace of mind.”

“Did…did Fitz ever say something to you about how he…” Jemma’s hazel eyes flickered up to meet Daisy’s who could only offer a strained smile.

“He never needed to. He always said it with his face whenever you were in the room.”

Jemma took a deep shuddering breath. “I don’t…I don’t know how I…feel about him right now.”

“Well, maybe not now but that’s because you’ve never had all the evidence.”

Jemma put her tablet down and wrangled her hands. “What evidence?”

“I mean it’s hard to identify what you feel when you can’t take a look at yourself in a mirror. Especially when Fitz is in a room.”

“I don’t know if I can just…say it with full certainty—”

“Neither of you can. For geniuses, you two are the worst at communicating or setting the record straight. He was only half right on the things he said, wasn’t he?”

Jemma nodded in sad agreement.

“So…set him straight. Restart an old routine if Fitz hates change so much.” Daisy said pointedly. “He should be leaving the Secret Santa room to check on the rest of the museum. Should be enough time to get what you need to restart it.”

As the evening drew on, Fitz had somehow found himself without disaster. With relief, he watched the Santa and his elves dutifully pass out their presents and make no comment on what had happened before. To Fitz’s surprise, the non-disclosure agreement Ophelia made the staff sign was a feat in foresight.

However, his gift was missing. There was no reason for the elves and Santa to hold a grudge and withhold it from him, so where did it go? Even stranger, Ophelia seemed undisturbed that her gift for him was missing. She only looked at him with unsettling hungry eyes that only served to give him more doubt on what he’d do after the holiday season.

Fitz decided to just hang the sense of it and finish his last drink before going home. The staff supervisor was already given the money to pay the staff at the end of the night and the cleaning crew would be there shortly.

“Hey Turbo! Where are you going?”

Hunter and Mack marched up to him with purpose, each clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Time for lunch.”

“It’s a little late for lunch.” Fitz wondered how much both men had to drink if even Mack lost track of time.

“Lunch is a state of mind, mate. At least that’s how you explained it to me when all we had for lunch were twiglets and hobnobs during that Arsenal game.”

“Come on.” Mack hoisted Fitz over his shoulder and walked over an outside balcony.

“Mack! Let me go!”

“Nope, this is our gift to you. Well, everybody who put money down for after the New Year.” Mack rumbled with a note of resignation.

“Yeah, Bobbi won’t be too pleased about this but she’s not here…Mack, I can stay at your place when she gets back right?”

“You pay for your own beer.”

Fitz was baffled. “Wha—what are you guys even talking about?”

“Hey Fitz.”

Fitz blanched and then quickly blushed as he took in Jemma’s presence. She was dressed in a form-fitting sapphire sweater and leggings under a skirt. Fitz struggled to avoid looking at her too long, feeling like he was 16 and back in Uni. Who could blame him though? She was still breathtaking as ever with her soft porcelain skin and nervous but confident smile.

“Here’s where we leave you two.” Mack and Hunter quickly left and closed the door behind them. However, before it fully closed, Fitz swore he could see Daisy aiming an encouraging thumbs up to Jemma.

“Um, so I thought we’d finally get lunch and…catch up.”

Fitz slowly stepped back, scratching the back of his head. “There’s really not much to catch up on, Simmons.”

She swiftly grabbed his other hand and met his gaze with shimmering eyes. That look in them seemed…familiar. She whispered. “Maybe, there is.”

“Simmons…”

The corners of her lips twitched downward slightly as if annoyed before she said in a mockingly stern voice. “Leopold…”

“Ugh, you know I hate that name.”

“It’s what she calls you. Why can’t I?”

“She can afford some of my hatred.” Especially after the way she treated Nathanson that morning. Fitz never liked the sycophant but not to that extent.

“And I can’t?” Jemma said quietly, her voice lightly strained and raspy. She was closer to him now.

Fitz couldn’t lie. “Never. Um, what did you want to catch up on?”

Jemma beamed. “Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing and let you know how I am. Like we always do.”

“Right, um, so how—how are you? How’s Will?” Fitz instantly winced. Why did he want to reopen that wound? Was he just a masochist? Well, then again if he was willing to go work with Ophelia again…

“Will is fine. I adore him.”

There it was. Fitz struggled to keep a neutral smile.

“…but he really needs to update his conversation skills. He basically keeps texting about the same topics as he did when we first met. Nothing all that interesting.”

“Oh?” Fitz tamped down any feeling of hope.

“Hm, he was interesting when we were under pressure to meet deadline, but I think it was mostly just the shared stress that let us talk and date for a bit. After it ended, there wasn’t much to talk about or more to discover about each other.”

“So you two have put things on pause then?”

“To put it lightly,” Jemma said firmly.

“Oh.” Fitz thought he’d feel more cheerful but instead he simply felt like comforting her. Her hand was still in his and he squeezed gently. “Um, so lunch?”

“Yes! I hope you don’t mind that it’s been out of the fridge for a bit, but the Secret Santa room didn’t have one.”

Fridge? Secret Santa room? Fitz was about to speak when Jemma stepped away to her handbag and pulled out a sandwich. “I was going to let you guess but I realized that it would be pretty stupid since I’m the only one who knows how to make this sandwich for you. Never told a soul.”

With a shaky hand, Fitz took it from Jemma. Her eyes were focused on his face the entire time. He opened it and smelled—prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella. With a hint of pesto aioli.

Did she…? He smiled brightly and handed half to Jemma. “Merry Christmas, Jemma.”

Her smile widened upon hearing her name for some reason. “Merry Christmas, Fitz.”

In the surveillance room, Mack, Hunter, and Daisy were watching. Daisy pressed her hands against her heart. “Awww, look at them!”

“Elena and I might not go to Guatemala this spring but seeing Turbo like that? Worth it.”

“Yeah, it’s sweet enough to make us all go diabetic.”

“Hunter!”

“Oi, we’re still putting bets on their third date, first vacation together, and engagement day. Some big money is on the line here, Johnson. Do you want your timeshare or not?! Coulson’s already texted his!!”

“Dammit, okay, no getting laid until the fifth date but only if Fitz is still not wearing cardigans for this winter.” Daisy said, pulling out her purse.

“Second date. Look at how Simmons is eyeing Turbo’s mouth as he’s chewing.”

**Author's Note:**

> The rest is up to your imagination (or when I feel the Christmas spirit again and feel like writing something a little dirtier. Maybe New Year's or that second date). Hope you enjoyed Morose Fitz and Jealous Jemma (not that she'll ever admit it). I intentionally avoided any open declarations of love to one another in the spirit of our sadist TV writers because it just felt right both to honor these wonderful sadists and be in the spirit of the Fitzsimmons frustration, but it is coming in future chapters, don't worry. 
> 
> And don't forget, they are still on the hook with Ophelia still around and that project Looking Glass is on the horizon for Fitz to join. He's always be a scientist with a heart of gold when it comes to brunettes in need, not just Jemma or Daisy. It'll be an interesting trial to Fitzsimmons to explore, so stay tuned!
> 
> If you're curious, the museum I wrote about was actually based on a Seattle museum that I went to for a company holiday party a while back called the MoPop. Though we unfortunately didn't have a Doctor Who exhibit when it was reserved. Enjoy the season folks and let me know what you think!


End file.
